so the most difficult thing
is always to keep
your beginner’s mind….

If you start to practice zazen,
you will begin to appreciate
your beginner’s mind.

It is the secret

Neither is there Bodhi-tree,
Nor yet a mirror bright;
Since in reality all is void,
Whereon can the dust fall?

– Hui Neng (638-713)

In the pasture of the world,
I endlessly push aside the tall
Grasses in search of the bull.
Following unnamed rivers,
Lost upon the interpenetrating
Paths of distant mountains,
My strength failing
And my vitality exhausted,
I cannot find the bull.
I only hear locusts chirring
Through the forest at night.

– Kakuan (1100-1200)

Now cold, now warm;
Staff and sandals
Sometimes home,
Sometimes out.

– Chugan Engetsu

A lone gibbon howls on the ridge.
What else do I cherish?

– Cold Mountain

Sometimes it’s a little better to travel than to arrive.

– Robert M. Pirsig – Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

Let your mind wander in simplicity,
blend your spirit with the vastness,
follow along with things the way they are,
and make no room for personal views,
then the world will be governed.

– Chuang-tzu.

I contemplate:
Moon in the pond.
Of my old friends,
How many know the Way?
– Zengetsu